Water Bills Payment Made Easier

Rwanda’s Water and Sanitation Corporation (WASAC) on Friday signed a deal with a local bank, Compagnie Générale de Banque (Cogebanque) to introduce an automated billing system for their clients.

“We don’t want to see citizens taking long to pay water bills, that is why we have partnered with Cogebanque to enable Rwandans access easy payment services,” Lucien Ruterana, the WASAC Commercial director said.

The Cogebanque Director of Business Development, Louis de Montfort Mujyambere said under the new billing system, “clients will no longer have to queue, rather, they will be able to pay online and also by using their mobile phones.”

Cogebanque and WASAC officials after signing deal that will introduce an automated water billing system for their clients

He told KT Press, “We have even developed a Cogebanquemobile App which is an advanced system of payment in which one doesn’t have to memorize codes as before.”

Mujyambere commended the new deal saying it was timely and aimed at making the welfare of its clients easy.

In addition, Cogebanque clients can make similar electronic payments for electricity, pay TV, and topping up phone airtime.

Cogebanque which has 15 years of existence is owned by Rwandans; It has established 19 outlets, 60 bank agents and is expecting 80 more by end of 2015.

The bank is established in many different places, both suburban areas in Rwanda’s Capital Kigali as well as provincial cities.

The new electronic billing system will be available to all Cogebanque outlets and WASAC officials say that they intend to entice the community to use to services as a way of having timely payments of bills.

A similar billing system is also available to other Rwandan banks including; GT bank and Bank of Kigali (BK).

In line with new service, Cogebanque and WASAC have committed mass media sensitization of the new products using the existing main media outlets, sending SMS’s on mobile phone users and community campaigns; as a way of educating the community about the product.

Louis de Montfort Mujyambere Cogebanque Director of Business Development, displays the mobile app